-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Almost 10 hours after a United Airlines airplane ran off the runway Monday , crews finally removed the wayward plane from its landing site at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport , an airport spokeswoman said .

Michelle Wilcut said one runway remained closed as workers filled a deep hole in the nearby sod , but airport officials hoped the labor would be completed in time to reopen the runway later Monday night .

The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot lost braking and steering control during the landing . The hole in the ground formed when the plane 's nose gear burrowed into the sod , Wilcut said .

No one was injured in the incident , according to FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford .

The Airbus A-320 , flying as United Flight 497 from New Orleans to San Francisco , was smoking from the nose and made a screeching sound as it landed , a witness told CNN affiliate WVUE in New Orleans .

Crews evacuated passengers from the plane using the emergency slides , Lunsford said .

The flight was carrying 100 passengers and five crew members , according to United . However , the NTSB said 109 people were on board .

The aircraft had returned to the airport about 20 minutes after take-off due to electrical difficulties and smoke in the cockpit , the NTSB said . Airline spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said the airplane experienced an issue with flight instruments .

The pilot had asked to land on a longer runway but was diverted to a shorter one because of workers on the first runway , Lunsford said .

CNN 's Dave Alsup contributed to this report

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NEW : 10 hours after United Flight 497 's emergency landing , the runway was still closed

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NEW : The plane 's nose gear dug a deep hole in the nearby sod

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No one injured during the emergency landing

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Plane was flying to San Francisco from New Orleans